


Borrowed Time

by SwoodMaxProductions



Category: Dead Cells (Video Game)
Genre: Acts of Kindness, Blood and Injury, Enemies to Friends, Exhaustion, Fainting, Friendship, Gen, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Overworking, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Sleep Deprivation, Spoilers, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26971123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwoodMaxProductions/pseuds/SwoodMaxProductions
Summary: The Time Keeper is exhausted. Eventually, she reaches the point of collapse— while fighting the Beheaded.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 49





	Borrowed Time

She didn’t know how much more of this she could take.

She hadn’t slept in… she hadn’t slept. Hunger gnawed at her stomach. It seemed every muscle in her body was so painfully tense it hurt even to stand still. Worst of all, she was incurring more wounds in her battles against the Malaise’s… creatures.

The Time Keeper slumped into a chair, an exhausted sigh escaping her. Shaky hands patched up her injuries as best she could. She tried to keep her sleep-deprived mind from falling into a spiral of despair.

Before she could finish bandaging herself up, she felt the familiar presence, and her stomach dropped.

It was _ him. _ She knew she was in no condition to be fighting— but then again, she hadn’t been in proper fighting condition for a long time.

She cut him off at the face of the clock, as she had so many times before. 

This time, the Prisoner faltered. He could see the blood seeping through her clothes. But when the Time Keeper steeled herself for battle, so did he.

When their blades met, it reverberated into her bones. When he hit her, it got harder and harder to recover. Maybe she should have let him pass, just this once. High Peak Castle seemed to be doing a good job of killing him lately. But it was too late now. One last good parry slammed her to the floor, a harsh cry forcing its way from her throat.

This was it. She would be completely at his presumably nonexistent mercy if she faltered in the slightest— she had to keep going, to stay awake! She had to get back up! But her body and mind had been pushed too far. There was no way out now.

The darkness at the edges of her vision consumed her.

~~~

The Time Keeper woke gradually, slowly realizing more and more how badly she hurt. But— she was alive? Had the headless anomaly simply left her for dead? Wearily prying her eyes open, the artificer realized that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, he was still there.

He was kneeling at her side, as a matter of fact. He even waved when he saw her begin moving. There was no attempt on her life. He seemed genuinely concerned— something she never expected, considering what he was…

He was quite injured himself, one arm tucked closer to his body and dripping with blood that was just slightly too dark. He fumbled around for his healing flask. There was only one dose left.

He held the bottle out to her.

The Time Keeper stared incredulously at first the flask, then the Prisoner. Was… was he really…? He couldn’t be. He contained the King’s mind. He was created from his very blood. And yet… he was offering to not only heal her, but heal her at his own expense— something she could never imagine the King doing, even if all of his memories were erased.

She cautiously began to reach for the flask, just in case it was a trap. The Prisoner’s eye rapidly bounced up and down, turning into a magenta-and-gold blur as he nodded enthusiastically, practically shoving the flask into her hands.

It was from the Havens, no doubt about it. She could physically feel the life flowing back into her body. Only one man was capable of this kind of potion wizardry. She absentmindedly wondered how the poor old sack of scales and bones was doing…

The shape of the Prisoner’s eye changed. He was smiling. He gave her a thumbs-up, then dashed out the door she realized hadn’t remained closed or warded once she was unconscious. Damn it. But… why. Why had he helped her? Maybe he was lonely. Maybe the prospect of another sentient being, even one that had tried to kill him before, possibly becoming an ally was too good for the poor creature to pass up. He was sentient, after all…

The Time Keeper lay back down. The Prisoner was long gone by now. She might as well rest.

And with the healing still tingling in her veins, she quickly slipped into dreamless sleep.


End file.
